


It Takes A Village

by Clc129



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Romance, Scheming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25420783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clc129/pseuds/Clc129
Summary: It’s seems Harry and Hermione are oblivious.No matter. Their friends will help them.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, since we made it to THREE fans, I’m thinking it’s time to try a multi-chapter and see if it works or if it crashes and burns.
> 
> Honestly, regardless of the result, still expect some more short drabbles. If you haven’t picked up on it, I’m incredibly bored and they only take a few minutes to write and personally I like the quick ones that get straight to the point. 
> 
> Just some perspective if you were wondering (I know you weren’t 😬).
> 
> Tally ho!

Ginny and Luna we’re headed to their classes together after breakfast as they were one to do. 

The two had grown very close over the summer after both made it through the DoM debacle and from then remembering how close they actually lived to one another when not in school. 

While, there were no EXACT words to describe the quirky starry-eyed blonde, Ginny found her to be a good and loyal friend and that was enough for her.

As they walk, they hear someone exclaim and the sound of books and various other items crash to the floor.

“Oh let me help you!” Ginny knows that voice without having to look.

They stop for a moment and watch Harry and Hermione start scrambling to pick up all her things off the floor after her bag has clearly ripped.

“Thanks Harry, I was hoping it would make it until this weekend for me to get a new one.” She huffs exasperatedly.

“No problem, I’m surprised you just don’t have a quarterly preorder set up for this yet.” He teases her.

She glares at him but takes his hand anyway as they rush to class.

“They’re so cute. I hope they figure it out soon.” 

Ginny is confused.

“Figure what out?” 

“That they’re in love with each other obviously.” Luna’s tone never changes as she starts walking again.

Ginny has to catch up after being frozen for a few seconds. They’re going to be late so there’s no time to ask her to clarify right now. 

She doesn’t need to ask her later to clarify she finds. Even though she didn’t hear a single word during class it’s ok. She can just borrow Luna’s notes later. Meanwhile, she’s figured it out herself. It really was obvious. 

Harry and Hermione were in love with each other.  
And she suspected that one, if not both of them, had no clue.

She feels almost silly for not realizing the signs earlier. 

How many times did they just stare at each other having silent conversations no one could decipher? How many times had they fallen asleep next to each other in the common room? How many times was it just the two of them walking casually hand in hand? How many times has one of them hexed any person who dared insult the other? How did THEY not know. It’s obvious.

Luckily for Ginny, she had moved on from her obsession with Harry well before this blatantly obvious fact hits her in the face. It might have hurt her too much at any other time.

That still doesn’t stop her however from watching their every move though now. And with almost every move the fact is confirmed. 

The other fact that is also made blatantly obvious was that they are both never going to acknowledge it. 

She’s not sure yet if it’s obliviousness or willful ignorance on either of their parts.

Ginny decides that, as two people she loves dearly, she wants them to be happy.

Clearly though, they aren’t going to pull the trigger themselves. So she will.

She needs a plan.

She’s also going to need some major backup.


	2. Rally The Troops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny finds backup...sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With only my phone with bad reception, and as I run errands, to write (I actually only ever use my phone) I bring you this.
> 
> Feedback me guys. Good or bad, I’m a big girl. 
> 
> I see y’all reading 👀.

“What’s this all about Gin? We’ve been waiting for like thirty minutes!” 

Of course it would be Ron to be the first to complain. 

She tries, and fails, not to roll her eyes instantly.

“I already told you RON, we can’t start until everyone is here.” 

No sooner as the words leave her does the door of the Room of Requirement swing open and the last of them make their way in.

“Sorry! Professor Sprout kept me way longer than expected! I got here as quickly as I could.” Neville apologizes frantically, clearly trying to catch his breath.

Ginny cuts off whatever sarcastic thing was about to come out of her brother’s mouth instantly.

“No worries Neville, it’s not like I gave much of a notice to anyone.” Ginny waits until he takes a seat to continue.

“Alright Gin what are we all doing here then?”

“If you would would stay silent for at least two seconds I could tell you RON.” She snaps back at him. While he doesn’t say anything in return, his eyes narrow in her direction. 

She returns the look then continues.

“I’m going to just say what I think we all know so we can just skip to the solution as quickly as possible.” 

“Harry and Hermione...” She doesn’t even get to finish the rest of her sentence before the groans from almost all the attendees fill the room. 

“I’m so tired of them honestly!” Lavender clearly already had an opinion on the matter.

Her tone makes Ginny realize maybe SHE was actually the last to know.

She takes stock of the rest of the room and everyone seems to already know what her point was going to be. 

Lavender and Parvati start whispering in each other’s ear.

Dean and Seamus give each other a knowing chuckle.

Luna is Luna.

Neville smiles knowingly but says nothing.

“What in the bloody hell are you going on about?” Of course it’d be Ron who would be the actual last person to not know.

Before Ginny even has time to fully chastise her brother, she is stopped by a voice.

“They’re in love.” No one can say Luna isn’t straightforward at least.

Ron’s face freezes somewhere between a jaw drop and widen eyes. Once he finally starts coming to, his mouth just opens and closes for a second. 

“IN LOVE?!” Ok, it’s now extremely clear Ron didn’t know.

Everyone other than Luna starts snickering.

Ginny continues. 

“Yes Ron, haven’t you been able to tell? They’re clearly in love!” She gives him a moment as he repeats his earlier actions for a few seconds. 

“Y-you think they’re in love? Like...with each other?” He finally asks, almost rhetorically, as his brain begins to process what he’s hearing. 

“Of course Ronald, they probably have been for years.” Luna replies calmly but without judgement. 

“Exactly right Luna! Now we need to figure out what we’re going to do about it since clearly they won’t. Unless you all want to wait around while they pretend for the rest of our foreseeable futures?” 

They all remain silent.

“Right then. So let’s get to planning.” 

Ginny found her group of troops more easily than she anticipated. This might be easier than she originally thought.

This plan better be good. 

“There’s no way they’re in love!” 

Oh Ron.


	3. Ron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron is also caught unaware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly I have not figured out how to get those end notes to stay in the first chapter.
> 
> That being said, it’s Ron’s turn.

Ronald Weasley only had a few plans today.

He was going to have breakfast, then he was going to go to the pitch to practice, followed up with lunch, then he was to meet Harry and Hermione in the library to get Hermione off his back about that stupid essay due. 

He had done only the first three before his sister walked past him and demanded he change that.

“Meet me in the Room of Requirement in fifteen minutes. Don’t tell Harry or Hermione.” It was instantly clear she wasn’t joking in the slightest.

Luckily for him, at least it was a good enough excuse to put off that dreaded library task for as long as he could. So he agreed.

Bad move on his part.

Ironically, he’s now sitting in the Room of Requirement wishing he had just gone to the library instead.

“There’s no way they’re in love!” 

He spins around the room looking for support from someone, anyone really. He’s dumbfounded to find no one seems to be agreeing with him.

He’s their best friend. People call them the “Golden Trio” after all. He would know what’s going on better than anyone else right? 

But after Ginny lays out the irrefutable evidence he’s left speechless.

Years later he’ll admit the feeling he had in the moment was actually his heart breaking. He was scared. 

Ron, much like his sister, had already given up his crush on Hermione well before this. But regardless, this hurts him. 

What about the “Golden Trio”? What happens to him if it suddenly became the “Golden Duo”? What was he going to do then? He didn’t really know a life without them after all they had been through. 

“Nothing really changes you know. They’re already in a relationship, they just don’t know it yet.” 

How on earth did Luna know what he was thinking? 

Ron collapses back into his chair with his head in his hands.

He starts to think about his plans today.

As Ron reflects he realizes, while he only had four plans that day, Harry and Hermione were really involved in only one of them. THEIR plans that day, he knew, involved both of them. Up until this moment it hadn’t bothered him in the slightest. Bloody hell, what’s going on here? 

“Are you done yet Ron? We need to move on if you’d like to get over yourself anytime soon.”

He wishes he would have had a little brother instead. 

He has no choice but to accept the truth. His two best friends were in love. It was obvious. He was going to be left out. 

“They’d never leave you out. They love you too.” 

Who invited Luna to this anyway? 

Admitting defeat, he decides to let his sister continue. It was inevitable. Let’s just get it over with.

“What’s this plan of yours then?” 

“FINALLY! So here’s what I was thinking.”


	4. What’s The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Ginny should have actually thought this out first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys should know by now I like to keep things short and to the point.
> 
> That’s being said, let’s see if I can switch it up.
> 
> Wish me luck 😬

“FINALLY! So here’s what I was thinking!” 

As the words left her mouth, Ginny realized that she hadn’t actually come up with any real plan yet. Oops. 

“Are you over YOURSELF yet Gin? We don’t have all day.” 

Similar to her brother, she wishes she had an older sister instead in that moment.

“Why don’t we just make them both jealous? Then they can’t ignore it anymore right?” Lavender did have a point but how could they make that happen? 

“How are we supposed to do that?” Ron’s not on board. 

“One of you guys just kiss Hermione and one of us will kiss Harry?” 

Almost all of them are stunned by Parvati’s suggestion. 

Ron cannot believe what he’s hearing. Neville’s face has never been redder. Dean and Seamus are insanely quite for the first time in a long time not knowing what to do with that plan. Lavender is considering it. Ginny doesn’t find that option too appealing but maybe they can make it work. 

Luna, however, doesn’t even flinch in the slightest at it. 

“Well that won’t work unless whoever does it wants to be hurt.

“Well, if you have a better solution then let’s hear it Luna.” Parvati challenges her back. At least she made a suggestion!

“No, you’re right.” She replies 

“That’s what I thought.” Parvati will take the win.

“Not about the kiss. That won’t work. But we do have to make them jealous. Just not like that.” 

Who invited Luna again? 

“Ok, this is clearly going to take some planning on all of our parts if this is going to work.” Ginny is reminded again that she really should have thought about this a little more before demanding this meeting.

“You brought us here without any type of plan!” Ron is going through a lot of different emotions right now. No

“I brought you here because it’s insufferable to watch them Ron!” 

No one in the room, aside from Ron, can argue with that.

“Maybe we send anonymous notes to them? You know like ‘From you secret admirer’ style?” Lavender does like to go for the more dramatic route.

“That’s not going to work, they’ll know it’s not from each other just based on the handwriting and wording.” Even Ron knows that at least. 

They’re back to square one.

“How about we all agree to meet at the Three Broomsticks and none of us actually show up with them!” Seamus feels really proud of himself for that one.

“Come on people! That’ll never work! They’ll just end up hanging out as usual and nothing will come of it!” Ginny really should have come up with an actual plan beforehand.

“What if we just tell them both separately what we think and see if they agree?” Sweet sweet Neville offers. NO.

“We get them drunk?” 

“Seamus, I’m not even waste my time to tell you why that wouldn’t work.” Ginny is not pleased right now. They have to come up with something better than that. 

“It’s going to take some time.” 

“Luna?” 

Luna didn’t have to have plan beforehand. The solution was obvious.

“We make them see what’s right in front of their faces by talking about who’s right in from their face.” 

“That’s brilliant!” Lavender and Parvati’s gossiping plotting nature starts to kick into overdrive at the possibilities.

“Can someone please fill me in on what you all are talking about?!” Ron says, especially aggravated at this point. All he wanted to do right now was go back in time and just go to the library instead. 

“It’s so obvious Ron!” Lavender replies. As her and Parvati basically shared one mind a plan starts to form between them. 

“WHAT’S OBVIOUS?” Ron is about to lose his mind for the second time today.

“We just need to divide and conquer! We’ll split up and Lavender and I will start talking about Harry and how fanciable we all think he is all the time. You know she won’t like that!” Parvati is now fully ready to take on the task. Her Gryffindor courage kicks in immediately. 

“And then Dean and Seamus will do the same to Harry about Hermione!” Lavender finishes her thought process. 

“That actually might work.” Ginny knew she brought in the right people for this. 

“So, just the four of you have to do all the work? Great! Good luck with that.” Ron is relieved but not for long.

“No Ron, the rest of us have to do the hard part.” 

Neville now starts to join Ron in his current misery. 

“The HARD part? What could be harder to do than that?” Neville is actually scared to know the answer at this point.

“We’ll have to remove Ron and Ginny from the equation.”

“EXCUSE ME!” Ron doesn’t know what Luna means by it but regardless he’s still not on board. 

Ginny in the meantime thanks Merlin she invited Luna. 

“Luna you’re a genius!” Now a real plan is in the works.

“I’m getting really tired of this. If someone doesn’t tell me what on earth is going on I’m going to leave.” 

“Ron can you stop already. We get it. It’s news to you. Build a bloody bridge and get over it. She doesn’t mean your friendship. She means both of us used to like them. They both need to know we don’t anymore!” Ginny WAS on board with this forming plan.

“This is crazy. How on earth are we going to let them know then? I thought it was FAIRLY clear after everything.” His eyes move between both Lavender and Dean, given their roles, and proving his point. 

Ron made his point. Though it was rare, he does also have his moments.

“We’ll pretend to date.” 

Ron can’t believe what he’s hearing. His only other plan today was that he was supposed to go the library. 

Now he has to pretended to date Luna?


	5. They Finally Make A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They might finally on to something here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on the fleshing thing out factor but I hear y’all. 
> 
> Hopefully this is a better first attempt.

Neville knows he’s a Gryffindor for a reason. He’s proven it several times through the years. He can be brave and he is nothing if not loyal. 

Right now however, the only thing he’s thinking about is how life might have been easier in Hufflepuff. 

He’s also no idiot. He heard everyone’s name brought up already along with the roles they were to play. He hadn’t heard his name or role however which only clearly meant one thing.

He was about to be asked to pretend to date Ginny Weasley. He’d even actually take Slytherin at this point.

The only he thing he could think of that would be more terrifying would be to date Ginny sincerely. Not because he disliked her in any way, they did go to the Yule Ball together after all and it was one of his fondest memories actually. 

But the Yule Ball was just a dance as friends and, more importantly, it was only lasted a few hours.

He’d never actually been a real boyfriend to anyone before let alone a pretend boyfriend. He’s not an actor! 

But if there’s at least one thing you can’t say about Neville (though he also had plenty of other admirable traits you couldn’t deny) was that he’s a good friend. He’ll do anything for his friends.

And, with that mindset, he gathers up his Gryffindor loyalty and bravery and finally asks the question he’d actually not rather hear the answer to. 

“So what do I need to do?” He couldn’t actually look Ginny in the eye if he tried. 

“Well I suppose that leaves you with me then.” Ginny shrugs then continues. “Can you do that?” She wouldn’t be ridiculous enough to expect him to be immediately ok with it and also had her own suspicions of whether he could even pull if off. 

All of them are surprised by the lack of hesitation and shock on his part.

“I can try.” That’s all he could promise at this point honestly.

“Oh this is going to be so much fun!” Lavender’s high pitched squeal almost left the rest of them with ears ringing.

Ron and Neville have their doubts about that.

“So what? I’m just suppose to randomly go up to them and say ‘Oh, good morning Harry and Hermione, my two best friends I see everyday. I just wanted to casually announce I’m dating Luna, a person I’ve never expressed ANY interest in before this moment’ No offense Luna.” He’s not trying to insult her just prove how unbelievable this is. “And also, we’re now madly in love? So you don’t have to worry about me.” 

“It’s called tact Ron. Maybe you should learn it.” If there’s anyone who’s not going to put up with Ron today it’s Ginny.

“It’s not a totally unfair question. We’d have to explain how we also got to that point right?” Neville can see the rub there. 

“They’re right! If Harry and Hermione don’t believe either of you then they’ll know something’s up and I’d really hate to be on the receiving end of that.” Dean finally pipes up. 

“I’d offer to trade Neville.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Ginny and avoids Ron’s death stare.  
It didn’t matter, he got an identical stare from Ginny herself.

“Let me finish you two! I’d offer to switch because we’ve done this before and it be quicker and more believable to just to say we got back together.”

Neville doesn’t know if he should be offended or take the life saver Dean was throwing to him. Or at least that’s what he thought he was doing. He wasn’t.

“But we can’t do that because if there’s one thing less believable it would be for Neville to try and make Harry jealous without stuttering like a guilty fool all the time...”That one Neville was offended by but he couldn’t really argue with that. 

“Wow you guys are bad at this.” Lavender has been waiting her whole life for this type of juicy manipulation of love and her time has finally come.

“You do it slowly. It might take some time but you just start by spending more time all together WITH them.” The rest of them are starting to get the idea. Close friends first got it. 

“Then, you start spending a little more time with just each other but make it known to them who you are with.” Grow closer individually. That makes sense.

“Then you have to openly flirt in front of them. Accidental touches, random staring, maybe to pretend to get jealous over something small that sort of thing. Maybe Lavender should have been in Ravenclaw?

Parvati is no slouch herself when it comes to this either. She brings in the rest of the plan finishing Lavender’s point. 

“And then while you four are doing that the rest of us will work on making them jealous in the meantime. They’ll be so upset by that alone it should be fairly easy for you guys to fool them into buying it.” 

A diabolically genius plan. It has to work or Ginny will have to throw herself off the astronomy tower. 

“It sounds like a we might have a plan!” It does dawn on Ginny that she hasn’t really actually had any input on this said plan but it’s irrelevant. They were only here because of her after all and she had to do one of the hardest parts. She’s willing to play her designated role if it ends this misery.

No one, other than Luna, can hear the irony of the plan.

They were being told to almost exactly recreate the relationship of the very people they were trying to get together in the first place. Luna is game. Ron can look fairly handsome when he wants to. She can spend more time with him easily.

Luna wonders to herself if lightening can actually strike three times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Worry not, we’ll be hearing from our favorite two in the next one.


	6. A Rocky Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a plan in place it’s time to begin.

None of them were actually naive enough to think that, even though they had formulated a strategy that they'd be able to pull it off seamlessly much less at all. There were too many wild cards to assume there weren't going to be problems.

A few of them were however fairly confident that they could. And why shouldn't they be? They'd been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. They felt born for this.

Of course there was Lavender and Parvati who basically had already been doing their task for years they just didn't usually focus it on Harry. Not at least when Hermione was present. They didn't want to die after all.

Then there was Dean and Seamus who've roomed with Harry for years and had conditioned Harry to endure endless amounts of ribbing on almost every topic you could think of. But, much like the girls, they never usually involved Hermione in them. Ironically, that was usually because they were afraid of Ron's reaction. They weren't concerned about it that now though. Harry often tried to play the good sport and Ron is no longer a factor.

Luna, is always game for pretty much anything and, since only an actual fear of death could really change her demeanor, they knew she'd do just fine in her role.

And because this was all Ginny's doing, she's not screwing it up.

That really only left Ron and Neville. They better pull it together otherwise everyone would be in big trouble.

"Ok guys, are you ready? We have to meet Luna outside the Great Hall in five minutes." Ginny, even if she's confident in herself, is nervous. There's no telling how Ron and Neville must be feeling or what they'll be capable of.

"No actually. I'm not ready Ginny this whole thing is insane thank you for asking!" Ron is still not ok with this.

"Seriously Ron, you don't even really have to do anything yet accept sit by Luna. Is that really that bad? Grow a pair." Ron is not going to be the reason this plan doesn't work.

"No it's not that bad! What's bad is the rest of it! Now I have to lie to both of them AND at some point pretend to play footsies and fall in love. Why can't we just let them be?! Do you know what'll they'll do to me if they suspect something is up?"

For the what felt like the thousandth time Ginny has to remind him its for the greater good.

"If you do your job right Ronald they won't suspect anything until we want them too. We've been through this already!"

"FINE!" Ron knows he's going to be forced to do this stupid bloody thing if whether he likes it or not.

"But if they do find out, GINEVRA, you're the first person I'm throwing under the bus." Ron is not willing to get murdered by either of them for doing something he never wanted to do in the first place.

She dismisses his threat out of hand. This is going to work. She's sure of it.

"Whatever, what about you Neville?"

Neville doesn't tell anyone but he's been practicing nonstop with things to say to Ginny and on being casual about it. It's really not in his nature to be either dishonest or smooth but he's willing to give it a shot.

"I'm as ready as I can be. This is the easiest part right? Ask me again when we're not supposed to be just friends anymore." Brave and still sweet Neville.

"Well alright then. Let's do this."

The three set off together to get this over with.

—-

Harry and Hermione are sitting together side by side but are now starting to wonder why they're still there alone.

"Hopefully Ron isn't sick. I thought you said you saw him getting ready earlier."

"I DID see him but he said he needed to send an owl before he came down for breakfast."

"When does an errand ever come between him and food? Maybe we should go check on him?" Hermione knows immediately that doesn't completely check out. She starts to get up and drag Harry along to see what's going on.

"Oh look there he is!" Harry sees him enter.

They don't particularly notice the others in tow.

Though Ron is always with them, it's not unusual for any of the others to accompany them at meals but it is one of the rare times all of them join the trio at the same time.

"Good morning." Luna breaks the ice.

They both respond in kind and greet everyone as takes a seat.

The fake couples all take a seat opposite of their fake partners and begin what the four of them know is going to be quite the journey.

Their normal and comfortable conversation starts as they eat.

"Are you ok Ron?" Hermione still suspects there's something he's not telling them. She's even more worried as she eyes his plate. He only served himself half of his usual horrendous sized serving.

"He's fine! He just has 'stomach' issues if you know what I mean." He was going kill Ginny.

"Should we stop at Madam Pomfrey's before potions?" Harry offers.

"Uh, no it's fine I uh...just...just needed a few moments to myself to uh work it out? I'm fine now. Just thought maybe I should t-take it easy for now." Ron's has never been more embarrassed.

Luckily, that seems enough like a normal reaction to the problem had it been real.

Hermione and Harry both spare him anymore embarrassment and let the issue lie. Neither really needed to know anymore information anyway.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Luna steps in.

"If you're still feeling bad later I can go with you. I volunteered to help her do some inventory anyway." She hadn't.

Ron doesn't answer immediately but he gets the message as a certain demon sister of his kicks him in the shin.

"OH! Um yeah...I'll let you know if it continues. Thanks Luna." He forces a smile on his face. He can't do this. They can't make him do this.

"No problem." Luna gives him an obvious adoring smile. This was going to be easy for her.

"Right then, you guys ready to go?" Harry starts to rise and offers Hermione his hand. She takes it without a second thought.

"I'm almost done, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Same, I'll be right behind you guys." Neville surprisingly instantly picks up her point. Their turn.

"Ok, we'll try and save you a seat. See you later Ginny." Hermione starts to tug Harry away with Ron and Luna behind them.

"Well it could have gone better but it's a start."

Neville isn't as confident but is still willing to take it one day at a time.

Now it's the other's time to shine.

Hopefully those four are as successful as they think they will be.


	7. The Boy’s Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Seamus are up to bat.

"Hi Ron, how are your tummy issues treating you this afternoon?" Dean and Seamus snicker as he enters the common room.

"Do NOT even start with me. I can't believe Ginny said that! She's going to pay for that one." His face is turning as red as ever and you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

"It's ok Ron, it happens to the best of us! Besides, did you even have an excuse for being late to breakfast they would have actually believed?"

"Of course I did! I-I said I had to send...an owl...before heading down. Ok fine I get it! But still!"

"Move on Ron! If anything you owe me. If you ever thought they would have believed you valued something more than food then you're the just fooling yourself. Besides, we've all seen your serving sizes. If anyone of us is going to have that issue it would definitely be you." Ginny shouts as she comes through the portrait hole hearing his complaints.

Dean and Seamus don't even attempt to hold back their laughter. Ron, if possible, grows even more red.

"Whatever, at least I've started my part today. What about you four? If you think it's so easy I'd like to see you try." Ron challenges.

"Oh please mate, we've been giving you both a hard time for years. This is child's play. As long as YOU don't react like a jealous prat." Seamus did have a point. While Ron hasn't had a crush on Hermione in a long time it would be a bit like hearing them talk about his sister.

Great, that means he really has two tasks! Stupid Ginny. Stupid plan.

"Oh Lavender, Parvati! There you are! Are you guys ready for tonight?"

If Dean and Seamus we're fairly confident in their abilities than Lavender and Parvati would be considered hyper confident.

Lavender scoffed at the accusation they were anything less than ready to fulfill their, up until now, life's mission.

"This couldn't be any easier. We could do this in our sleep huh Parv?" Parvati looked just as self assured.

"Well then, let's hope this goes more smoothly than this morning. We just need to get through dinner first then you guys are on." She turns to leave the room.

Ginny knows those four should have a much easier time with their task but that doesn't stop her from spinning around on her heel menacingly staring at them. She wasn't going to do this twice.

"DON'T. SCREW. IT. UP." She growled at the pair.

Even they'll admit that was a bit terrifying. They do take pause for a minute to make sure they had a plan that would work.

—

Dinner had gone well enough. Much better than breakfast and lunch thankfully.

Harry and Hermione had already stopped noticing that the others have joined the trio for every meal and fell into easy conversations with everyone.

Still playing their parts, Luna took the lead in her blossoming relationship with Ron. She would ask HIM specifically about his day making him stutter occasionally and when she knew what he was going to grab she made sure to grab for the same making him blush violently at the unexpected touch.

That was not lost upon Hermione who watched with a quirked eyebrow but said nothing. Just Luna being Luna she figured. Who ever knew what she was up to.

Ginny also played the lead regarding Neville but took a slightly different approach.

"Oh hey Neville! I almost forgot, I wanted to ask if you would help me practice for my upcoming herbology exam tomorrow? I just can't seem to wrap my head around it and Merlin knows you're by far the best at it." She smiled brightly at him.

It took every fiber of his being and a long sip of pumpkin juice not to let the blush rise up his face.

"Uh, sure Ginny. What's the exam about?" He does genuinely love the subject and would normally be willing to help her study current events aside.

Ginny couldn't be happier with that response and pulls out her book from her bag and opens the pages and moves to sit next to him to show him the chapter.

This time, Harry watches them and smiles. Neville has really been coming out of shell and, if he's being honest, a little voice in the back of head thinks maybe Ginny could help with that if they became closer friends.

"Are we studying tonight Harry?" Hermione pulls him from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah that's fine but you think we can just do it in the common room tonight?"

"BUT there was this one book I rea-"

"Pleeease Hermione! I'm so tired and just want to sit on a comfy chair and review for a little bit. I promise the library tomorrow?" He's armed himself with his best puppy dog face he knew she couldn't say no to.

"FINE. But now you owe me at least two library hours tomorrow." She instantly gives in.

"DEAL!" He celebrates his victory with a Ron sized bite of pumpkin pie. Everyone, other than Hermione who looks horrified, laughs at his antics.

—

Once they're all back in the common room everyone goes to their spots.

Harry and Hermione sit side by side on the couch and crack their books open, Ron challenges Seamus to a game of exploding snap and Ginny ushers Neville next to them at the table to "study".

Ron and Seamus (mostly Seamus as his part is coming up soon) go up to the dorm leaving Harry with Hermione.

Ginny yawns louder than any normal person would and announces she's going to get some shut eye and makes her way up the stairs bidding them goodnight.

Neville runs out as quickly as he can once it's just the three of them left.

"I suppose it's time for us to get some sleep too huh?" Harry closes his book trying to stifle a yawn.

Hermione lays her head on his shoulder and yawns as well before also closing her book.

"It doesn't sound like the worst idea." Her eyes start slowly closing.

Harry smiles warmly and slightly nudges her shoulder.

"Come Hermione, you'll be more comfortable in your own bed." She pouts but moves to get up anyway.

They bid each other goodnight and make their way to their respective dormitories.

—

Harry makes it to his room first and just like any other night Dean and Seamus are in the middle of giving Ron a hard time.

"Oh come off it Ron! We saw your hands touch at dinner!"

"I. She. We didn't. That wasn't my fault! It was an accident. You know she's always on some other planet that Luna!" Whether he means to or not that's exactly the reaction the other two were looking for.

Harry laughs and heads to the bathroom to change. When he's done he slightly opens the door and notices the subject has changed and stops to listen.

"I'm just saying. Summer did her well. I've thought about asking her to dinner a time or two." Dean nods in agreement at Seamus statement.

"You guys have both gone barmy!" Ron knows Harry is standing there trying to catch up.

"So you DON'T think she's good looking then?" Dean stares at Ron giving him an almost imperceptible nod.

Come on Ron you can do it.

"I...well...yes. I mean! I think she's pretty and all but I think of her as my sister! You don't look at sisters like that!" Good job Ron.

Harry is stunned. Are they talking about who he thinks they're talking about?

"Whatever you say Ron but all I know is Granger has some attributes half the blokes at this school wouldn't mind seeing out of those robes." Seamus smirks and lays his head back on his arms with a dreamy sigh.

He can't believe his ears. Attributes? What would they know about Hermione's attributes? HALF the blokes? Who are these blokes? He doesn't know what's going on here but he's not liking what he's hearing. It doesn't occur to him right then to consider why other than protecting his best friend's dignity.

"Oi! Harry! You about done in there mate? You've been there a little tooo long if you know what I mean!" Dean shouts to the doorway he can see is slightly cracked. This could not be going any better. Dean and Seamus are quite proud of the progress they know they've already made.

Harry takes a second to compose himself before exiting the bathroom.

"Oh bugger off you two, I'm going to bed. Good night Ron I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight mate." Ron can sense the very slight tension Harry brought with him out of the bathroom and looks back at Dean who gives him a quick wink.

And with that Harry shuts his curtains and doesn't say another word. The rest of the boys follow suit content with a job well done.

Hopefully the girls have just as good as luck.


	8. The Girl’s Turn

Hermione couldn't deny she was extremely tired and could admit sleeping on the couch wasn't quite as adequate as her own bed, though Harry is a very comfortable couch buddy. She could barely stifle her yawns as she made it to the room.

She's greeted with the usual visual as she walks in the door. Lavender and Parvati are sitting across from each other both with a magazine in hand whispering (if it could even be called that considering they can be heard down the hall) and giggling away.

They immediately stop at the sight of her. That's weird. Their whispering turns into actual whispering and furtive glances in her direction.

Hermione is too tired and used to their antics after all these years to care right now. She makes her way to her dresser and grabs her clothes to change and brush her teeth before passing out for the evening.

Once changed and in the middle of her thorough oral hygiene process she does start to wonder what they were talking about and what it had to do with her.

The last time the rumor mill was directed towards her was the blasted Skeeter article in 4th year.

Nothing has happened recently so it does strike her as odd. Oh well, they'll have no problem letting her know eventually what's going on. Those two couldn't keep a juicy secret to save their lives.

With that, she shuts the light off and leaves the bathroom.

Again, their whispering level comes back down as she makes her way to her bed. She can feel their eyes on her the entire time.

Hermione draws her curtains and lies down attempting to sleep. After a few minutes she tosses to the other side. Something isn't sitting right with her. It's not like them to not accost her at anything that has with the trio. What are they hiding this time that makes it different?

Is it Ron? Maybe Lavender wants to get back with Ron but wants to know if he's interested in someone else? No, that can't be it. Lavender has no probably bragging about how she's loving her casual dating practices.

It can't be about her. Other than spending time with her close circle she can always be found in the library or doing rounds. No romantic interests to speak up. Not that she has any complaints. She finds contentment in her quiet life these days.

That leaves Harry. Obviously there's always some rumor, or five, surrounding Harry making its way through the castle at all times. Every witch with a pulse would give their left arm for him to pick them and they make no attempt at subtlety.

She tosses the other direction, her brain isn't going to stop until she solves the puzzle now.

It still makes no sense though, the two girls in the bed next to her are also anything but subtle and would have already asked her to confirm the rumors. Usually she doesn't dignify their accusations with any answers but she still does hear the rumors rolling around out there.

She flips onto her back frustrated to say the least.

She's had enough. She knows she shouldn't invade their privacy but she can feel bad about that later and apologize.

She grabs her wand, gives it a flick, and all of the sudden the voice of both girls floats into her closed bed.

"They really said that? But who said it?!" She can hear Parvati clear as day whispering through her giggles.

"I swear Parv! They probably didn't even realize I was in the stall the two twits!" Hermione rolled her eyes at Lavender's ironic assessment of these two mystery girls.

"When are they going to do it then?"

"I didn't catch that part but soon if I had to guess."

"Well they better be careful because if the one or the other finds out there's going to be hell to pay."

"Don't I know it! Been there." Both girls start laughing again and continue flipping through their magazines.

"It's not like they have a chance regardless. Harry doesn't give anyone a chance. Not that she'd let anyone close enough anyway."

She? Who is she? Her?

"Should we warn them?" Parvati asks with a more serious tone.

"Absolutely not! We've been waiting months for something like this to happen! It's been sooo boring around here. I say we just let it all unfold as it may."

"It would be nice to see some other random girls at the end of Hermione's wrath other than you and me for once."

"Exactly! Wait until they find out some random Hufflepuff six years are trying to sneak The Boy Who Lived a love potion. All hell is going to break lose. And I for one need a little excitement in my life."

"May Merlin have mercy on their souls." Parvati says through a yawn.

"Hell hath no fury like a Potter or Granger scorned." Lavender returns.

"Ok, we should probably get to bed before Hermione wakes up and murders us in cold blood." Hermione can't see Lavender look over in her direction with a huge smirk on her face.

The two girls hug and Parvati makes her way to her bed and they turn out the remaining lights.

Hermione has so many emotions rolling through her she simply can't process them all right now.

Fury, the biggest one at the moment, at these two "Random Hufflepuffs". How dare they try to use a love potion on Harry. He's been through quite enough in this life and he still has to deal with these childish antics from people just wanting to attach themselves to his fame.

More fury, at Lavender and Parvati, but she'll deal with them later.

Indignation, at the implication she keeps her best friend from living his life the way he wants. She would never want Harry to be anything less than happy. Had she been unconsciously pushing new people out of his life? She wouldn't be the reason he couldn’t find his happiness. She vows to take a step back and let more people in his world. He deserves all the good things in life and she refuses to stand in the way.

Like her male counterpart she chooses to ignore that little ball in her stomach screaming at her to do the exact opposite but her mind is made up.

Now all she has to do is figure out who these Hufflepuffs were and stop them first. She'll work on the rest later.

If she thought she was exhausted before there's no words to describe how tired she is now. She rolls over and quickly drifts off to sleep.

Almost simultaneously Lavender's eyes shoot open.

How are they supposed to make it look like two Hufflepuffs are trying to slip Harry a love potion?

She lays back down with a small smile on her face.

Who was she kidding? She'll just suggest it to them.

Oh yeah, she was good.


End file.
